


Re-evaluation

by DoubleL27



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Feels, Galapagos, Light Angst, Not Canon Compliant, Post-Season/Series 05, Pre-Season/Series 06
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-17 00:14:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21045119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoubleL27/pseuds/DoubleL27
Summary: The Galapagos was everything Ted ever dreamed it would be, more really, with Alexis here with him. Still, sometimes the little voice of doubt, left over from a two week honeymoon without her, poked up and asked if this was where she wanted to be at all.





	Re-evaluation

**Author's Note:**

> Now for something completely different. This was actually the first fic I started in the SC fandom and I couldn’t finish it until I went back and watched early Alexis/Ted which still hurts my heart.
> 
> There may be a line that’s a pretty heavy direct reference from _Anne’s House of Dreams_ by L.M. Montgomery because Ted Mullins is Gilbert Blythe level committed, which is why I adore him.

Nights came early on the ship. The ship had headed out from the Charles Darwin Research Center on the Isla Santa Cruz two days ago and had moored just off the Isla Española. The team was busy cataloguing the current population of tortoises on the oldest and southern most island of the archipelago. The conservation effort was strongest here and the Center liked to check in on the population to help with both donations and making convincing arguments to keep the breeding plan going to reintroduce tortoises to islands on which they had gone extinct. The sun set so much earlier at the equator than it did in Canada this time of year, and people were in bed earlier. Everyone but one person. 

Ted rolled over to find the other side of his bunk empty and the clock glowed 12:17 AM. Knowing he was was going to regret it when his alarm went off at 4:30, Ted climbed out of bed. Pulling on his robe and shoving feet into his slippers, Ted slipped out of their bunk room and headed down the hall towards the galley. 

The rocking of the boat was a comforting sway as he made his way towards where he was pretty sure Alexis was holed up. The faint glow from a satellite computer leaked out into the hall from the main room. Ted padded closer to find Alexis curled up in one of the chairs, her fishtail braid curling over one shoulder. There were still times Ted wasn’t sure what he had done to bring the most beautiful woman he had ever seen to the idea that she loved him. He leaned against the doorway rather than bother her during her conversation. 

“Ew, David!! No! What is he thinking?”

“His favorite color is blue.” David on the video screen was holding a scrap of fabric up like if offended him. “He doesn’t seem to have an appropriate concept of what suits match our general tone. We just need to lead him to a more acceptable option.”

“David! It’s a wed-ding!” Alexis reminded him, disgust still lacing her voice. “Blue should not be a full suiting option for the groom. Ugh! Why did you have to get engaged as I was leaving?”

“I’m sorry, Alexis!” David exclaimed, waving his hands, the fabric fluttering like a flag through the screen. “I forgot that I should put my life on hold and not even begin planning to marry the love of my life until you return.”

“If you want to be up there in blue suits—“ she said, shrugging for the camera. 

“Eat rocks!”

“Maybe you can wear beige.”

There were times that Ted didn’t understand half the reasons why Alexis and David I were upset with each other. Tonight was definitely one of those nights as he was pretty sure Alexis had sneered at David with her last sentence. Still, since Alexis had arrived she hadn’t gone a day without talking to David via Whats App or video chatting. Whatever conflicts the Rose siblings had, it never really interfered with their connection. 

Screen David looked over Alexis’s shoulder and clearly said, “Ted, come collect my sister please.”

“Shh,” Alexis fluttered her hands at the screen, “everyone is asleep.”

“He’s behind you, Alexis.”

Alexis swiveled the chair around and her mega-watt smile lit up her face before a frown took over, leading to a crease in her brow Ted was not going to inform her of. “Babe, what are you doing up? You should be asleep. Aren’t you leaving to catalogue animals at, like, sunrise?”

That was the plan and he was going to stick to it. Ted was going to be a level of tired he didn’t really want to contemplate. Coffee. There would be lots of coffee. 

“You weren’t in bed.” Ted told her with an honest shrug. He pushed off from the wall and walked over to the chair she sat in. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“Eww, and with that I am off.”

Alexis whipped around in a flash, middle finger raised to the camera. “Like you and Patrick aren’t grosser. Send me an email with real options next time. He can use that color for the vest on a three piece.”

David returned the gesture and signed off. Alexis turned back to face Ted. Her face went soft again. “Sorry. It’s weird being two hours ahead of time.” Ted crouched down in front of her as she combed her fingers though the loose ends of her braid. “First, I had to sit in on the meeting with the town council and talk Roland out of, like, a million stupid ideas for the holidays. My mother also wants to spend, like, way too much money for a tree-lighting ceremony but the one done in Elmdale is already so good, we wouldn’t get much traction for the budget and then David called with the wedding crisis.”

“What crisis?”

“Patrick wants to wear a blue suit for the wedding,” Alexis told him, her lip curling in disgust. 

“Is that not appropriate?”

“Ugh, babe, the only worse option is brown.” Her brow wrinkled in thought. “Or beige. Good colors for work, not for weddings. I mean, I guess people are going with navy suits more now, like Ryan Reynolds when he married my friend, Blake, but she wore gold and David wouldn’t look good in gold. When dressing for a wedding, you should really be looking at a black or a dark gray suit. No pinstripes. Maybe a houndstooth.”

She was off, staring at the wall behind him, clearly developing appropriate wedding suits in her mind. There were times that Ted felt like Alexis being here was still a dream, part and parcel of this magical place with his dream job and this dream girl who might disappear if he did the wrong thing. He hadn’t been able to shake the feeling since she had come flying across the tarmac, smiles and laughter and sunshine, and into his arms weeks ago. Still, believing she might just disappear, he couldn’t stop the question falling from his lips. “Do you want to go home?”

It hung in the air for what seemed like an eternity. Then the big, shiny dream bubble seemed to pop around them as Alexis’s face crumpled in confusion. 

“Ted, what? Why would you ask that?”

Ted thought about the nights she stayed up late to do work so as to not tax the internet, the amount of time she spent by herself when he was off doing field work, her wish to be involved in David’s wedding. What he said was, “We always said we would re-evaluate after we were here awhile.”

Alexis pouted and began emphasizing every word with her hands. “No, you said we could reevaluate. I said I was coming with you, because this was your dream vacation. So, why are you asking?”

Instead of answering right away, or reminding her he was working, Ted took a finger and began playing with the edge of her lace shorts. “I don’t know.”

“Ted, I’m serious,” Alexis said, rapidly poking at his shoulder, alternating her hands. “Talk to me.”

Ted kept fiddling with the tiny bits of lace, tracing along her leg, rather than look at her. “Everything’s been great. I just know it’s hard for you with your business and David’s wedding. I thought you might want to be there.”

Alexis took his chin in her hand and used gentle pressure to guide him up to look at her. “I do. But I want to be with you more right now.” 

“Ted, this has been amazing. I have travelled the world since I was fourteen and nothing has ever felt as safe or relaxing as this trip, and, I am up _before_ 10 AM here. Also, they totally have the fruity cocktails you totally thought they wouldn’t have.”

“Good.” Ted found himself nodding and tried to tamp down the worry. “It’s just a lot to ask.”

“And you never ask. You suggest and then let me have my way, usually.”

Alexis reached out and squeezed his shoulder. Her voice turned quiet and small as she said, “Ted, I love you. I loved you enough to see you happy with Heather, if that was what you wanted.”

“I know.”

He did know. Alexis had told him she loved him with no strings. Ted had honestly never expected to hear the words from her after she had ended their engagement years ago. He had lived with the idea that Alexis would never fully return his feelings for so long that her standing in the exam room, saying words he had always wanted to hear her say had seemed surreal. Still, she had meant it and left without expecting anything in return. 

Ted laid his head down in Alexis’s lap and tried to put all the raw feelings and worries back inside. Inhaling Alexis’s light fruity and floral scent, Ted let the movements of the ship help him regulate his breathing back into a rhythm rather than periods of holding his breath. 

Alexis began combing her hands though his hair and her fingers scrubbed against his scalp. He closed his leaned into the touch. Somewhere over the course of knowing Alexis, she had transformed from the most stubbornly selfish person he had ever known, and become the kind of person who would make deep, personal sacrifices for others. Usually, for him. This Alexis was still the type who would pretend she had no memory of things she didn’t like but she would do them anyway. 

“Ted, you know that when we were together last time, it wasn’t like this time.”

Ted looked up to see Alexis peering at him. She caught her lip between her teeth and worried it. “I didn’t think that I deserved someone as nice and perfect as you, so I threw away the best thing that had ever happened to me because I didn’t know I could keep him.”

Ted would also add that they didn’t really talk back then, not like they did now. He had booked the trip to Cancun and turned it into their honeymoon without asking her what she wanted. The idea of losing Alexis had scared him to the point where he didn’t want her to think about leaving, so he didn’t give her the chance to. 

Alexis leaned forward and kissed him before rubbing her nose over his. “Besides, if I am not here, who will keep up your adventure blog?”

“My what?”

“Ted,” Alexis tilted her head to the side and looked at him like he was crazy. “we talked about this. Dr. Ted’s Excellent Adventure? Remember? We talked about how we wanted to keep client loyalty up while you’re gone because Dr. Miguel will try and seduce them away with puppies. So, I suggested an adventure blog, chronicling your job here.”

Alexis blew a loose piece of hair out of her face as she turned around to tap at the computer. Ted tried to remember this conversation and couldn’t. Finally, she moved it closer to Ted’s face. 

“Here.”

Ted looked at the front page, which had pictures of him with tortoises and his scrubs on. There was a post up, time stamped 10:00 PM, about the work they had done today checking on the recovered population on Isla Española and how long the tortoises here had been in recovery and the ways they planned to replicate the work on other islands. It had typos and grammatical errors, but Ted couldn’t bring himself to mind. 

There were times where Alexis did anything to avoid actually doing anything, like refusing to take phone messages or dip out of work early. And then there were times where she did stuff like this. Ted looked back at Alexis and she grinned at him and did what he liked to call her happy flutter. She closed her eyes and seemed to shiver from her shoulders up. 

“You tell me all the stories of how you spend your day and I just write them up,” she explained, her bubbly excitement filling her voice. “The Elmsdale Chronicle has started printing them as a serial for the old ladies who don’t know how to get online. The dance class at the senior center prints them out and reads them. Also, Shan has reported a 20% increase in patronage and most of the clients are talking about the work you’re doing here.”

“Alexis, I...” he couldn’t get any words out but he could feel the tears gathering in his eyes. 

Alexis, however, was still focused on the website. “Ooh, and I have a full section just of your puns. _Dr. Ted’s Pun Facts_. And this one is for the different tortoises you work with. See, it has names, ages, favorite foods.”

Her smile took over her face as she beamed at him. Ted surged up from his crouch by the table and took Alexis’s face in his hands, kissing her deeply. Alexis wrapped her arms around his neck and slanted her lips, deepening the kiss. 

“Well hello, Dr. Mullens.” Alexis looked at him with half-lidded eyes and a satisfied smile. “Whatever this is, yes.”

“I love you.”

Alexis closed her eyes and extended her neck, tilting her head back like she was savoring his words. “I know.”

On impulse, Ted put hands on her waist and swung Alexis out of the chair and over his shoulder and coming to a stand. He gave her ass a quick pat. He wasn’t sorry he asked this time. 

“Ooh! Ted!” She squealed, trying to keep her voice down and failing. “Everyone’s asleep.”

“You’ll just have to be quiet then,” he insisted, shutting off the computer. 

As he walked towards their bunk, he took her feet and began inspecting the bottoms. 

“Ted, what are you doing?” Alexis hissed at him, squirming against him. 

“Checking to see if your feet are blue.”

“Why?”

“Because you have some nice _boobies_,” he joked, pushing the door to their bunk open and carrying her in. 

“Ted!”


End file.
